Tay teacher has spent 16 years climbing mountains and wading streams to maintain her class in a remote area.

Growing up in Pac Nam ( Bac Kan ), Ms. Long Thi Duyen somewhat understands the difficulties that the people here have been going through. Life in the highlands is deprived, so parents spend more time on the fields than taking care of their children, "the children just grow up like grass". Her childhood was no exception, her parents worked far away, she had to be independent, so from a young age she always cherished becoming a preschool teacher to love, teach and take care of the children.

During her high school years, she persevered with her goal of going to university and then becoming a teacher to repay her parents for raising her. Ms. Duyen passed the entrance exam to study Preschool Education at Hai Phong University of Education (now Hai Phong University).

Class 7 no

Being able to attend university was a miracle for Ms. Duyen. Traveling more than 300km from her village to university, the Tay ethnic female student at that time constantly tried her best, studied hard and practiced. In 2007, she graduated from university with honors.

Holding a bachelor's degree in education, Ms. Duyen chose to work closer to home and teach on a contract at Boc Bo Kindergarten.

"I was assigned to teach at Khau Vai school, about 7 km from the main school and the commune center. At that time, the road to the school was all red dirt, difficult to travel, many steep sections could only be walked. It took about 1-2 hours to get from the commune center to the school," Ms. Duyen recalled.

Although she was born in the highlands, when she became a teacher and went to teach, Ms. Duyen understood the hardships of the people here. The whole village only had a few wooden houses, completely dependent on the fields. "In the first days of entering the school, the classrooms were made of temporary bamboo. On rainy days, the books leaked and soaked. On cold days, teachers and students huddled together to keep warm by the fire in the middle of the classroom, with the wind howling all around," Ms. Duyen said.

Back then, the teachers often joked that this was a school with 7 nos: no solid classrooms, no learning equipment, no chalkboards, no electricity, no water, no phone signal, no way to communicate with students or parents. 100% of the students were Mong and Dao ethnic groups, they came to class not knowing Kinh language, teachers and students could only communicate through gestures and actions, making the teaching and learning process even more difficult.

"Teaching Mandarin to ethnic minority children is very difficult, requiring teachers to be patient and have standard pronunciation. When pronouncing, children often mix their mother tongue, leading to lisping, requiring teachers to patiently correct, repeat many times, and demonstrate with slow mouth movements so that children can observe and pronounce accordingly," Ms. Duyen shared.

To help students get acquainted with Vietnamese better, Ms. Duyen prepared many pictures and eye-catching tools with interesting letter captions. She also came up with many highly interactive games so that students could learn and play at the same time, absorbing the lessons more quickly and effectively.

Ms. Duyen remembers most the days teaching children folk songs, nursery rhymes, songs... Seeing the children babbling along, she believes even more that choosing to become a teacher was the right choice.

Every day, after school, Ms. Duyen has to spend time visiting parents' homes to persuade their children to attend class regularly and not skip school. She even has to eat, live, and work with many families before they trust her and let their children go to class.

Life has been like that for more than 16 years, Ms. Duyen has been attached to this mountainous land.

Hope students have full meals

Having gone through so many ups and downs over the years, Ms. Duyen shared that to do a good job of nurturing, caring for and educating children in difficult areas and ethnic minority areas, one must have a firm and steadfast ideological stance.

Since the beginning of her career, Ms. Duyen has always been ready to accept and complete all assigned tasks well. She always dresses simply, with her hair tied up high to easily take care of her young students from studying to every meal and sleep. Only on days when the school has an important event, the Tay teacher "dresses up" in Ao Dai and lets her hair down.

She said that because the school is still poor, she wants to save her salary to occasionally buy candy, cakes, and toys for the children.

As a preschool teacher, Ms. Duyen always clearly defines the role of "teacher like a gentle mother". Every time she sees malnourished students, she is anxious to find ways to improve. "I always remember the days when I personally went to each student's house to encourage parents to let their children eat and sleep in class. At first, there was not a positive response, but over time, boarding gradually became a familiar thing. Thanks to that, the malnutrition situation has decreased significantly" , Ms. Duyen was happy when her perseverance was rewarded by the health of her students.

Ms. Duyen's greatest wish is to contribute to creating a healthy educational environment, where all children who go to school are well fed, warmly dressed and safe. "When children go to school, regardless of their circumstances, they are taken care of equally, no one is favored more than another and no one is left behind," the teacher said.

Thanks to her perseverance in the profession and deep love for her students, Ms. Duyen has now become a second, indispensable mother at Boc Bo Kindergarten, Pac Nam district.

For many consecutive years, Ms. Duyen has achieved the title of Emulation Fighter at the 3rd level and the title of Advanced Worker. She has also received many certificates of merit from the province and city for her achievements in emulation, excellent teaching and many good initiatives for the education sector.

This school year is the 17th year working in the education sector. The Tay teacher always believes that being able to work every day, being loved by students, and being respected by parents and colleagues is the most valuable gift and motivation.

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/co-giao-nguoi-tay-16-nam-treo-deo-loi-suoi-duy-tri-lop-hoc-o-noi-7-khong-ar903624.html